A. There is hereby established in the state treasury a special nonreverting fund to be known as the Renewable Electricity Production Grant Fund. The Fund shall consist of such moneys as may be appropriated by the General Assembly from time to time. Any moneys deposited to or remaining in the Fund during or at the end of each fiscal year or biennium, including interest thereon, shall not revert to the general fund but shall remain in the Fund and be available for allocation under this chapter in ensuing fiscal years. Interest on all moneys in the Fund shall remain in the Fund and be credited to it. The Fund shall be used solely for the payment of the grants provided under this chapter. The Department shall administer the Fund.

B. The Department shall allocate moneys from the Fund in the following order of priority: (i) first to unpaid grant amounts carried forward from prior years because eligible corporations did not receive the full amount of any grant to which they were eligible in a prior year pursuant to this chapter and (ii) then to other approved applicants. If the moneys in the Fund are less than the amount of grants to which approved applicants in any class of priority are eligible, the moneys in the Fund shall be apportioned pro rata among eligible applicants in such class, based upon the amount of the grant to which an approved applicant is eligible and the amount of money in the Fund available for allocation to such class.

C. The Department shall not allocate an amount in excess of the moneys available in the Fund for the payment of grants.

D. Beginning in calendar year 2007, by June 30 of each year, the Department shall (i) determine the amount of the grants to be allocated to eligible corporations and (ii) certify to the Comptroller and each eligible corporation the amount of the grant allocated to such corporation. Payment of such grants shall be made by the State Treasurer on warrant of the Comptroller within 60 days of such certification, subject to appropriation of sufficient moneys in the Fund.

E. If a grant recipient is allocated less than the full amount of a grant to which it is eligible in any year pursuant to this chapter, such corporation shall not be eligible for the deficiency in that year, but the unpaid portion of the grant to which it was eligible shall be carried forward by the Department to the following year, during which it shall be in the first class of priority as provided in clause (i) of subsection B.

F. In no case shall the Department certify grants from the Fund for kilowatts of electricity produced prior to January 1, 2007.

G. Actions of the Department relating to the allocation and awarding of grants shall be exempt from the provisions of the Administrative Process Act pursuant to subdivision B 4 of § 2.2-4002.

2006, c. 939; 2007, c. 789.